pastiche
/pæˈstiːʃ/noun, verb
pastiche is spelled P-A-S-T-I-C-H-E: 8 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 51,738th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, pastiche means “A work of art, drama, literature, music, or architecture that imitates the work of a previous artist, usually in a positive or neutral way” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of pastiche is pastiches.
How many letters and syllables are in pastiche?
| Letters | 8: P-A-S-T-I-C-H-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 3 million words; the 51,738th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is pastiche?
Pastiche appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 51,738th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce pastiche?
- /pæˈstiːʃ/
Pastiche has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-pastiche.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of pastiche
- pastiches plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- pastiching participle, present
- pastiched participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does pastiche mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A work of art, drama, literature, music, or architecture that imitates the work of a previous artist, usually in a positive or neutral way.
- 2
A musical medley, typically quoting other works.
- 3
An incongruous mixture; a hodgepodge.
This supposed research paper is a pastiche of passages from unrelated sources.
- 4
A postmodern playwriting technique that fuses a variety of styles, genres, and story lines to create a new form.
verb
- 1
To create or compose in a mixture of styles.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Pastiche in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | pastiche |
| German | Pastiche , Potpourri |
| Portuguese | pastiche, pasticho , pot-pourri |
| Spanish | pastiche |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does pastiche come from?
Via French pastiche, from Italian pasticcio (“pie, something blended”), from Vulgar Latin *pastīcius, from Late Latin pasta (“dough, pastry cake, paste”), from Ancient Greek παστά (pastá, “barley porridge”), from παστός (pastós, “sprinkled with salt”). Doublet of pasticcio.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).